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Last year marked the strongest tonnage totals for the Port of Green Bay since the onset of the Great Recession.

The port handled 2.3 million tons of cargo last year, the highest figure since 2007.

The beefy total came during a year that included a brutal winter that kept the Great Lakes frozen into the early part of the shipping season.

"We lost at least four weeks to start off the year to ice conditions," said Dean Haen, director of the Brown County Port & Resource Recovery Department. "Limestone had its third consecutive year of growth, and it surpassed 700,000 tons for the second time ever."

Increases in petroleum coke and petroleum products also were among key products driving 2014 tonnage increases, he said.

The 2014 total represents a 3 percent increase from the 2013 tally of 2.2 million tons, according to the port.

A 180-ton natural gas boiler delivered to Georgia-Pacific for its Broadway mill last month is expected to be operational later this year. Company officials say it is expected to cut coal use at the mill by 150,000 to 200,000 tons a year. The mill uses 400,000 to 450,000 tons of coal annually.

"The outlook for next year? We'll be happy to surpass 2 million tons," he said. "That boiler is going to change the amount of coal Georgia-Pacific receives ... so we're probably going to see a 25 to 40 percent reduction in coal."